anders/book-1/6.tex

\chapter{6}

Being left alone in the darkness in the middle of an almost completely destroyed foreign city that had given him neither refuge nor protection from the kidnapping and the plane crash, instead relentlessly chasing him from one second to the next, was almost more than Andrew could handle. Almost immediately panic bubbled to the top. It wasn't completely dark down here, but he could still only see two to three steps ahead of himself. If he lost the girl, he probably wouldn't have a chance at finding his way back.

Katt understood him though. After ten or fifteen careful steps through the darkness she stood there, waiting for him. Andrew was counting on her asking him another question, but instead she just waved at him and went on in front of him. This time she didn't go outside his field of view. They took maybe fifty or sixty more steps when the hallway ended in front of a massive concrete wall. Andrew only saw the half-meter height hole that was in it when they were a few steps away.

``Hurry!'' Katt motioned with a reluctant gesture at the hole in the wall. ``It isn't that far.''

Andrew looked at her quizzically for a moment, then got down on his hands and knees and crawled ahead. The hole in the wall turned out to be the entrance to a tunnel of the same size that seemed to go through crumbly earth and partially also through solid rock. Andrew was only guessing as there was no light at all in the tunnel, making him crawl through complete darkness. He couldn't tell how long the tunnel was; for his subjective perception it felt like there was no end. Andrew hadn't ever suffered from claustrophobia, but in this narrow hole his imagination started to play tricks on him. What if the passageway just ended in the middle of nowhere or just started getting so small that Katt would fit through, but not him? Andrew didn't believe he had enough strength to crawl all the way back backwards. And what if it suddenly collapsed, squishing him under tonnes of earth and rock or --- even worse --- buried him alive until he agonisingly died of thirst three or four days later?

Just when his imagination was about to go on to the next step and start giving him frightening hallucinations it got brighter in front of him --- even if he wouldn't have noticed the pale grey shimmer in normal circumstances. He instinctively tried to crawl faster.

``It gets a little narrow up there'', Katt called after him.

Andrew rolled his eyes and with a silent sigh suppressed any comment that came to mind. If had had the room for it he would have wiped the sweat from his brow. Instead he use the last bit of strength that he had to think about what Katt meant with \textit{a little narrow}.

But it \textit{did} get narrow. The ceiling lowered so far that Andrew couldn't belly crawl like he was before. He had to pull himself along the ground with his head turned sideways and the hard rock still scraped across his face and back. The claustrophobia hit with full strength. His heart started racing and he trembled all over, drenched in sweat. The only reason he didn't completely panic was because he somehow managed to focus his fear on what would happen if he \textit{stopped}.

All in all he only had to pull himself along for about five meters that he covered as if it were the longest five meters in his life. Then his hands suddenly reached into emptiness. Andrew lost his grip, impacting the hard rock one and a half meters lower than the hole. That wasn't the first time today that he saw red stars when his forehead hit the ground. The pain was so bad that he felt sick.

In spite of that the first thing he felt was immense relief. He couldn't remember to have been as scared as he was for the last few minutes ever before in his life; not even earlier when he and Nick were running from the blue lightning bolts. Andrew just lay there breathing deeply, enjoying the indescribably feeling of being able to suck in the foul air into his lungs without feeling like he was in a vice that seemed to be slowly tightening at every breath. His head was incredibly sore (other than his knee) and the nausea that churned his stomach didn't want to die down, but that didn't matter.

Katt gracefully lowered herself from the hole and turned him on his back. She was incredibly strong if you considered that she weighed at most eighty pounds and was basically only skin and bones.

``That wasn't too bad'', she said. ``Honestly I wasn't sure if you \dots''

She broke off when she saw his face. Andrew saw her dark, slightly angled eyes widen. Did he look that bad?

Yes, as her next words confirmed. ``What's wrong?''

``Nothing'', Andrew forced through clenched teeth, which probably made him not only look pathetic, but also stoked the nausea in his stomach. He breathed deeply and forcibly slow and suddenly had immense trouble to suppress the urge to vomit.

Even so he only let another second pass before he pressed his elbows into the hard rock and slowly raised himself. The room spun around him and the pulsating pain behind his forehead got worse, not better. He shakily raised his left hand and felt his face. At least he wasn't bleeding from his ears, which at least meant he hadn't broken his skull.

``Can you stand?'', asked Katt.

Considering the latently present nausea as a precaution he refrained from giving an answer and instead tried to fulfill Katts request. He was successful, but in addition he got so dizzy that he had to quickly stretch out his hand to grab a hold of Katt's shoulder. But he could stand.

Katt said something, but he suddenly had trouble making sense of the tone of her voice. Everything spun around him and the face of the girl started to flow together. He felt his knees weaken. The nausea got worse \dots

\dots and disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared. The unbearable thumping in his skull turned into a still bad, but bearable throb, and his vision also cleared. With a relieved sigh he raised his head and looked at Katt. ``What did you say?''

``Nothing'', the girl answered. He was pretty sure that was a lie, but Andrew let it go and looked around curiously. There wasn't much to see here either since the light was possibly worse than in the basement hallway that they left the burning building from. The few meters that he could see were enough for him to identify that they were in an old sewer pipe, but a sewer with not a single drop of water.

Andrew looked back at the hole that they had crawled through. He couldn't believe that they had actually squeezed through that hole. At least they had definitely lost their strange pursuers.

``Should we go on?'', he suggested.

Katt looked at him for another moment with the same look on her face, then nodded silently and turned to walk away.

She was moving quickly, but not at quite the murderous tempo that they were going earlier, which Andrew was thankful for. Both his headache and nausea had lowered to a bearable level and even his bruised knee seemed to have realized that it couldn't stop him, seemingly satisfied to bother him as much as an intense muscle ache. But in the last few hours he had endured more than the previous \textit{years}, and he felt how underneath all the pain and bigger wounds a different, more dangerous type of exhaustion grew, something that he didn't have a counter for. His body was already running on reserves. If those ran out he wouldn't have anything to fall back on. The adrenaline and pent-up tension were probably the only things keeping him on his feet. Where ever Katt wanted to bring him, it would be better if they reached their goal \textit{quickly}.

Katt was moving slightly slower through the darkness in front of him now, but still with the surety of a sleepwalker that Andrew not only couldn't quite understand but also seemed eerie to him. You could almost think that she could see in the dark. But she had probably come this way often enough that she could have found her way through blindfolded.

``Where are we going?'', he asked after a while.

``To the nearest safe place'', answered Katt. ``It isn't far away.''

\textit{Safe place}, thought Andrew. \textit{Aha. Watever that could be.} He remained silent.

Katt's notion of \textit{not far away} must have been inherently different than his, as he had feared, because they marched on through the dry sewer for at least another fifteen minutes. Andrew didn't ask any further questions --- the answers probably would have depressed him even more ---, instead opting to use the last bit of strength he had after the significant effort of putting one foot in front of the other on observing the walls as carefully as he could. Other than that there hadn't been a drop of water down here for a long time the sewer was completely normal. Every once in a while a branch that was sometimes closed off with a rusted bars merged into the one they were walking in. The concrete was crusted with the dirt of centuries, but not burnt. The fire hadn't reached down here.

But there was something else. Andrew noticed it earlier when he walked into the hall with Nick, and even though he couldn't put the feeling into words, it had always been there. Something was \dots missing.

And then he realized what it was.

All around him there was only stone and dead metal. In a place like this there should have been mildew, mold and rot, bugs and spiderwebs, at least \textit{something}. But there wasn't any of that. The sewer --- and the entire city far above their heads --- was completely dead. There wasn't a single trace of life here. The thought was so unearthly that it sent a shiver down his spine. And it awakened a gnawing fear in him. He had believed Nick (\textit{They were clean bombs}), but if that were true, then life should have returned to this place long ago. Maybe Nick was mistaken or had intentionally not told him the truth so that he wouldn't be alarmed. Something hadn't just burnt this city, but rather had downright sterilized it, and maybe that something was still here. Katt hadn't really explained why she was in such a hurry. Ind maybe the men from the black helicopters didn't just wear their HAZMAT suits because they were so flattering.

Andrew stopped these thoughts with tremendous effort. It was as it was, period. He wasn't going to win anything by making himself go crazy.

Finally Katt stood still. In front of them there wasn't a ladder or stairs that lead out of the canals, but instead another, yet noticeably larger, hole that someone had forcefully broken out of the wall.

``Oh no, not again!'', moaned Andrew.

``This time it won't be as difficult'', Katt promised. ``Only a few more steps. Do you think you can make it?''

Andrew fruitlessly listened for a satirical or even malicious undertone in her voice. He found none of the sort, her concern for him was real.

Even so he considered her with an insulted look and marched (well: limped) past her with a proudly raised head. ``Of course``, he growled. ``I'm not \dots'' He swallowed the rest of the sentence as a precaution. He had almost said \textit{I'm not a girl}. But that wouldn't have been especially smart. After all this \textit{girl} hadn't only saved his life, but so far had also shown herself to be quite a bit tougher than him. But you probably had to be that to survive in an environment like this longer than a few hours.

He let Katt past him, ducked into the opening in the wall and saw that she was right: It wasn't far, but it also lead in a direction that he didn't expect. Behind the whole in the wall there was a five meter tall chamber with a collapsed ceiling. A downright risky ladder led to the jagged hole in the ceiling where Andrew saw something that he hadn't even hoped to see again: light.

It wasn't daylight. It wasn't even especially bright, but rather a dull grey glimmer that he would have labeled as darkness a few hours ago. But now the grey twilight coaxed a half-volume cry of joy. He grabbed the ladder and started to hastily climb up it without a second thought about the hair-raising construction and its ability to carry his weight. After a few moments he was at the end of the ladder and pulled himself through the jagged opening in the at least fifty centimeter thick ceiling.

What he saw hit him like a ton of bricks. Andrew froze mid-movement. He didn't even register that Katt climbed up the ladder behind him and was forced to do some complicated maneuvers to get out of the hole due to Andrew's sudden stop.

``You shouldn't be exerting your self so much'', she said. ``That really isn't \dots'' She stopped in the middle of the word. ``Andrew? Everything okay?''

Andrew didn't really hear the question. He was still standing there as if paralyzed, one foot on the top rung of the improvised ladder, the other on the floor, and tried to process what he saw in front of him.

The ceiling of the chamber was also the floor of such a gigantic hall that its ceiling had to be regularly supported by square concrete pillars. The light that he saw was coming in through a rectangular opening behind which a gently curving concrete ramp led upwards. Even here everything was littered with rubble and debris. To the left of them there was an entire row of ancient cars. The hall was nothing other than your regular underground garage like he had seen dozens of times before.

And still this sight shook him more than anything he had seen so far. Maybe it was because it was so mundane. So \textit{normal}.

So far he hadn't seen anything in this city other than burnt-out buildings in some state of destruction and entirely empty. But now he saw something that belonged to the \textit{inhabitants} of this burnt city. Something that they built and used. The rusty cars that were covered in pieces of the ceiling and dust made this extensive hall into something that the buildings above their head had successfully hidden: a grave.

``Andrew?'', asked Katt again. ``Is everything okay?''

Andrew didn't answer this time either, but he overcame his paralyzation enough to finally step fully away from the ladder. His heart was pounding faster and he was getting dizzy, but he attributed it to the shock that the sudden sight had caused him. He stood there for another moment, then he slowly turned around and headed towards the vehicles.

Katt held him back by his arm and with the other one motioned in the opposite direction. ``This way.''

``Just one moment.'' Andrew tried to free himself with little strength and after a moment he succeeded, but only because Katt let him.

Slowly, with ever increasing heartbeat, he got closer to the first vehicle. It was wrecked and buried under such a thick and hard layer of dust that he couldn't have even guessed the original colour. But Andrew recognized the model, even if he wasn't a specialist for old cars. It was at least thirty or forty years old and the same went for the rest of the cars here.

``Good god, what \dots what happened here?'', he mumbled.

``Nobody knows.'', said Katt. She followed him, but kept a greater distance than was necessary. ``That has always been here. Nobody knows what they're good for.'' She was silent for a moment then added in a strangely different tone. ``Do you know?''

Andrew didn't answer. He slowly approached the car and stretched his hand out toward the door handle.He didn't expect to be able to open the door; he was sure that it was warped or had rusted in place over time. But it swung open very easily and with hardly a sound, providing him with a look at the inside, which was somehow even more terrifying than the outside. Even here there was age-old dust and grime, but this time Andrew saw it immediately: The same thing that applied to the rest of the city was also true here. It was completely empty. The only thing Andrew saw was the naked metal parts of the chassis and the steel tube frame that at one point made up the seats. Everything that wasn't made out of resistant metal had disappeared, including the steering wheel.

Andrew took a step back and took a more critical look at the outside of the vehicle. The tires were also gone, just like the rubber seals around the windows. And something told Andrew that they hadn't \textit{burned} away. He went to the next car, examined it as well and arrived at the same worrying conclusion. Everything that wasn't made of glass or metal had disappeared. Even though he knew what he would find he examined three other vehicles. It was the same with all of them. Without exception the cars were ancient and seemed to have turned into iron skeletons.

``Is it going to take you very long?'', asked Katt. ``Whatever you're doing there.'' She had stopped ten or twelve steps away and was looking at him with suspicion, as if she were scared to get near him. But after a moment she lifted her arm and pointed in the same direction as before. ``We need to hurry.''

Andrew looked behind him and studied a narrow door that seemed to lead in a neighboring room. He had automatically assumed that they would leave the parking garage through the welcoming open ramp.

``Why don't we go that way?'', he asked.

Katt stared at him. ``You really have no idea, huh?'' Her voice still seemed somewhat unbelieving, even though Andrew could tell that she was doubting her own words.

``No'', he said. ``Why don't you explain it to me?''

Katt  sighed and shook her head, turning towards the ramp when her eyes widened. Andrew hurriedly turned in the same direction --- and was incredibly shocked.

The four figures that were marching down the ramp were barely visible as slightly darker shadows in front of a barely lighter background, but Andrew still immediately knew with whom they were dealing. \textit{How the hell had they found them down here?}

``Didn't you say they never come down here?'', he asked.

``They haven't ever done that before'', answered Katt. Then she yelled: ``\textit{Run!}''

She sprinted off and Andrew realized after her her first couple of steps how much he had underestimated her. Katt seemed to become completely invisible in the weak light of the parking garage and was not only moving silently, but also as quickly as a fleeing animal of prey.

One of the men fired at her. The light blue bolt of light missed her by multiple meters and caused a jet of fire to explode out of the wall. Katt started running in a zig zag and seemed to move in an even more impossible way. The next shot missed her by even more, but now the others started firing at her as well, and Andrew had already seen what good shots they were. A true storm of blazing blue light bolts was raining down on the fleeing girl. The wall that she was headed towards was already ablaze and at a dozen places there were sputtering volcanoes in the ground, spewing flames and molten concrete. Sooner or later they \textit{had} to hit her, no matter how fast she was moving.

Andrew arrived at a frantic resolution. He didn't deliberately do it --- there wasn't enough time to think about it, and if there were enough time he definitely wouldn't have done it ---, but he completely instinctively felt that it was the right thing to do. Instead of running behind Katt in a straight line, he swung a little to the left and ran as fast as his throbbing knee allowed him to. And directly in the line of fire of their pursuers. Three, four, five blindingly bright bolts of light hissed through the air in front of him and then the firing stopped as quickly as it started.

Andrew swung to the right, mobilized every last bit of strength he had, and ran after Katt. Just half a dozen steps and she was at the door and stormed through; however only to stop and hectically wave in Andrews direction.

``Run!'', she yelled. ``They're coming!''

Andrew would have preferred to laugh. Did she think he was blind or who did she think he was running from? Nevertheless eh tried running faster, but he just couldn't. It was quite the opposite, he was getting slower.

He immediately recognized a new danger. Even if the men wouldn't shoot at him, they could run faster than him. If his strength didn't last they would catch up to him before he even got to the door.

Suddenly the bright blue light flared up behind him again. Andrew gritted his teeth in anticipation of being hit, but their bullets of light and heat weren't even pointed in his direction. Whatever those men were shooting at --- it was definitely not him. Andrew stormed on, tumbled through the door with his last bit of strength and lowered himself against the side wall, breathing heavily. Only then did he turn around and look towards the men.

Their pursuers were still firing, even more frantically and faster than before. But they still weren't shooting in their direction, instead concentrating their fire on the exit ramp behind the open gate! Bolt after bolt of lightning hit the burnt concrete and all over there were flames and sparks, but they seemed to go out astoundingly fast.

But was that even concrete that they were shooting at? Andrew wasn't sure. The light was too poor to identify details, and the hectically flashing firelight didn't make it any easier --- but it seemed like the entire ramp was covered in lumbering movement and that the entire breadth was sliding downwards.

Or maybe something was crawling along it \dots

``Hopefully they'll eat them up'', Katt hissed. She looked at him. ``Can you still go?''

Andrew nodded, but the movement was more automatic and not because he was convinced of it. His head was hurting more and more and even the nausea was gradually returning. His knee throbbed.

``Then come on. I don't think they'll be able to hold them up for long.''

Andrew silently nodded again, but let another few seconds pass as he looked at the horrifying scene in the parking garage before he braced himself off the wall and tediously dragged his feet after Katt. The men had gotten closer together and were concentrating their fire on the glittering darkness that was silently crawling down the ramp. But all though their weapons seemed to contain the fire of hell, the teeming masses had gotten visibly closer. Andrew thought he could see that they were trying to cut a hole in the ceiling, but their fires were going out almost faster than they could start them.

``Thank you'', said Katt after she had been silently running in front of him for a while, looking back over her shoulder every once in a while to make sure Andrew was still keeping up --- a feat that was getting harder to pull off with every passing step. He was almost at the point of complete exhaustion.

``What for?'', he asked, short of breath.

``You saved my life'', answered Katt. Andrew felt how hard it was for her to say that. She obviously wasn't one of those people that were used to thanking people for things. After a moment she continued anyway: ``That was the most brave thing I've ever witnessed. Why did you do it?''

``Because I felt like it'', responded Andrew with the same tone and the same words that she had answered his question with earlier. ``Either way it wasn't as brave as you might think.''

``Why?''

``They had had their chance to shoot at me twice before but didn't take it. I was just hoping that it would work a third time.''

Katt looked at him in disbelief. ``And if you had been wrong?''

Andrew raised his shoulders. ``Then I would have been the first to notice.'' He heard how dumb it sounded --- but what was he supposed to say? That he didn't think about it at all and just \textit{did} it? Or that he had put his life on the line not only to protect the lady of his heart, but also because without her he wouldn't have a chance to get out of here anyway? Both were the truth, but to him it seemed unwise to admit those out loud.

In addition he had become very nauseous and in the meantime his headache had gotten so bad that his vision was starting to be impaired.

Behind them an immense roar and crashing rang out. The hallway swayed so much that they were thrown against the walls and Andrew helplessly slid down them. The reflection of an enormous glaringly blue lightning bolt flew over their heads and seemed to burn their grotesquely distorted shadows into the concrete floor. There was a sound as if the whole building was crashing in on them and a second, even more glaring blue bolt lit up the hallway and Andrew went unconscious.